Thandi the Rhino gives birth

Kariega Game Reserve has announced that poaching survivor, Thandi the rhino, gave birth to a calf yesterday.

Thandi and two male rhinos were discovered on 2 March 2012 after their horns were brutally removed with machetes and were left to die by poachers.

The two males sadly died, whilst Thandi has endured numerous operations over the past two years including pioneering skin graft surgery under the care of Dr William Fowlds.

Dr Fowlds of Investec Rhino Lifeline comments: “I am sure that the whole rhino caring community will share in the joy of this amazing birth.

Thandi’s story has always been an incredible testimony of the will to survive against all odds. She represents so much of what her species faces under the current poaching crisis.

Her survival has already given us inspiration but the birth of her calf brings a new dimension of hope to the crisis showing us that a future generation of life is possible if we put our minds and hearts to it.”

South Africa has the largest population of rhinos in the world.

However, figures compiled by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs show a dramatic escalation in the number of rhinos being poached.

During 2014 a staggering 1 116 rhinos were killed in South Africa.

Over the past five years 3 569 rhinos have died at the hands of poachers.